Moldboard balance



Jan. 1, 1929.

W. M. TAYLOR MOLDBOARDD BALANCE Filed May 13, 1926 J fever: Z0!" WWW diva/"figs Patented Jan. 1, 1929.

STTES 'WILLIAM 1V1. TAYLOR, OF INDIANAPOLIfi, INDIANA, ASSIGNOE OF ONE-HALF, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO 'ULYSSES GRANT SMITH, OF INDIANAPOLIS,

INDIANA.

MOLDBOARD BALANCE.

Application filed May 13,

A further object is to utilize the resiliency of a spiral spring in supporting a mold board which has lateral and rotary and also vertical adjustment, and to provide means at all of said adjustments for equalizing the variable tension of the spring which increases as the spring is wound up.

I accomplish the above, and other minor objects which will hereinafter appear, by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1, is a view in side elevation, of enough of the mechanism of a. road machlne to make the application of my invention which is shown therein, intelligible,

Fig. 2, is a vertical cross section on the line 22 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3, is a detail, in side elevation, of a spring with chain-winding cone at one end, and worm and wheel mechanism at the other end for winding the spring. 1

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views of the drawing.

The bod frame 1 is mounted on front wheels 2 and rear wheels 3, and supported below the body frame between wheels 2 and 8, is a. draft bar 1, from which a mold board 6 is suspended, and is rotatably adjustable around a vertical pivot 7. The draft bar 1 has a wide rear end 5, and tapers toward its front hinge end 8, Attached to the rear end of the draft bar a is a yoke (at) having atube in which a bar (6) telescopes to allow the bar to shorten and lengthen with the swing of the yoke. The bar (2)) is connected by a link (0) with a member (0?) which has slidingadjustment on a T-bar (6) fixed to the rear axle of the machine. The yoke is adjusted laterally by sliding the member on bar (a) in the proper direction.

The position of the mold board 6, relative to the ground, is thus controlled by the position of the draft bar, whereby, by raising and lowering the draft-bar the mold board will be correspondingly moved.

It may also be moved longitudinally by swinging the rear end of the draw-bar 4L 1926. Serial no. 108,812.

about its front end 8 and correcting the angle by rotating it about pivot 7.

Supported upon and attached tothe draftbar is a horizontal channel bar 9, which extends a suitable distance on each side laterally of the draft-bar, as shown in Fig. 2, to afford better control of the draft-bar from the body-frame of the machine.

Mounted upon the body-frame 1, substan tially over the bar 9, are two, parallel bars 10 and 10, which provide supports for vertical frames 11, 11, having slide-ways therein for vertical rack-bars 12, 12, and journal bearings for shafts 13, 13, upon which are the respective spur-gear wheels 1 1, 14, which engage with the teeth on adjacent rackbars 12.

The lower ends of the rack-bars 12, 12, are each connected by crank arms 15, 15, with respective ends of the bar 9 on the draft-bar, and to allow for the necessary adjustment of the mold-board laterally of the machine as a whole the ends of the crank arms are connected with the cooperative parts by universal joints, here shown as by ball and socket joint 16, 16, and double hinge joints 17, 17.

The shafts 13, 13, are each extended to the rear of the body frame, and terminate with worm wheels 18, which are engaged by respective worms 19 on shafts 20, and on the shafts 20 are hand wheels 21.

By manipulation of the hand wheels 21 the intervening mechanism will raise or lower the mold board, and any given adjustment will be held by the worm and wheel portions thereof. The approximate weight of the mold board is 2000 pounds, and it is the main purpose of my invention so to counter-bah ance the weight that approximately half of the weight will be taken off of the shaft 20 and associated gears, and less exertion by the operator on the hand wheels 21 will be required to raise the respective ends of the mold board. It is also a feature of my invention to counter-balance the weight of the mold board at any of its rotary and laterally adjusted positions.

I will now describe the mechanism by which the weight of the mold board is counterbalanced. Secured to the under side of the body-frame 1 are two transverse bars 22, 22, which assists the bars 10 and 10 in supporting shafts 28, 23, on one end of each of which a worm wheel 24. is rotatably mounted, and upon which shafts near their other ends, are integral castings each comprising a cone 25 having a flange 2? it. inner end. Each shaft 23 passes through a spacing pipe 28 which keeps the flanged end 27 at a uniform distance from the whee A spiral spring 29, is wrapped around pipe 28. One end of each spring pa. through a hole in the adjacent wheel the other end of the spring passes in like manner through a hole in adjacent flange A worm 30 operates to rotate the worm wheel 21 when the worm is rotated, and at all other times to hold the \YOlll'l wheel from rotating. The ends oi? shafts 31, 31, on which the respective worms 30 are mounted, are suitably squared to receive a. wrench :tor manual rotation of the worm.

Chains 32, 32, are attached at one one each to corresponding 33, pi oted to bar 22, and are extended down ant respective pulleys 34;, 3e thence up and over respective pulleys S5, 3'

carried by the frame 1 on suitable members, not shown, and thence to do inner end of the spiral groove in the a 'ljac l 25 and is fastened there to the smal the cone in posit-ion to tbe wrapped cone by the continued wrapping of i x j. i it,

and the varying diameters oi the cones equalize the tension of the springs by changing the leverage as the springs are more tightly wound.

It will be noted that the spring-balance mechanism is in duplicate, one for each side of the machine or mold board end, for the reason that an independent adjustment for each end of the mold board is often required.

in the operation of my device it is generally desirable to use stiff enough springs lift half of the weight of the mold board, leaving approximately the other half of the weight to be raised by the mechani ally operated through hand Wheels :21. The thousand pounds to be balanced by my invention is equally divided between the above described duplicate mechanisms for the two ends of the mold board. Accordingly, each of the two springs 26 is manually tightened by rotating its worm 30, until the spring will raise 500 pounds. If this mold board be in raised position when the spring is wounc the lowering of the mold board will wind the spring tighter, thereby 'increasing its; tension, but this increase is compensated tor by winding the chain on the larger diameters of the cone, thereby increasing the leverage. The opposite occurs should the mold board be in lowered position when the springs are wound up. The above described mechanism is operative at any position of the mold board ithin its range of adjustment vertically, laterally and rotatively' l] in till ll it is sometimes desirable to detach the mold board, as for sharpening, repairs and the like, and the tension of the springs is re tained byloclzing the cones by inserting a oin 49 through hole in the frame member into a registering hole in the end disk e cone.

a road making machine, moldboard adapted to be moved up and down, in con'ibination with means for balancing the mold-board at any position within its range o'l movement comprising a chain connected "1 ll'l{li (lll02ll'(l, and a cone on which the chain is worud, the axis of the cone extend l longitudinally of the macoinc.

2. .ln a road making machine, a mold board adapted to be n'loved, in combination with means balancing the mold-board at an position within its range of move ment comprising arhain connected to the mold-board, and a cone saving a spiral groove m which groove the chain is wound in axis of the cone extending longitudinally the machine. J

0. ln a road making machine, a moldbcard adapted be moved up and down,

1 4. Lil/tel al y of the machine and rotatably about in combination with means the mold-board at any position range of movement comprising flied to the mold-board, a cone with groove on which the chain is wound am spring wrapped around the extended anis of the cone and attached to the cone to balance the action of gravity on the mold-board.

In a road making machine, a mold-board adapted to be moved up and down, laterally of the machine and rotatably about a vertical axis, in combination with means for balancing the mold-board at any position within said range of movement comprising a chain connected to the'inold-board, a cone with a spiral groove on which the chain is wound and a spring Wrapped around the extended axis of the cone and attached to the cone to balance the action of gravity on the moldboard, and means for varying the tension of the sprin I 5. In a'road making machine, a mold-board adapted to be moved up and down, laterally ot' the machine and rotatably about a vertical axis, in combination with means for balancing the mold-board at any position with said range of movement comprising a chain con nected to the mold-board, a cone with a spiral groove on which the chain is wound and a spring wrapped around the extended axis of the cone and attached to the cone to balance the action of gravity on the moldboard, and worm and wheel means for securing and reaining the required tension of the spring.

6. In a road making machine, a mold-board adapted to move up and down, laterally of the I (i Cllil l" machine and rotatably about a vertical axis in combination with means for raising and lowering the mold-board and means for balancing the mold-board at any position within its range oi movement comprising a chain connected to the mold-board, a cone with a spiral groove on which the chain is wound, the axis of the cone extending longitudinally of the machine, a shaft on which the cone is mounted having an extended portion, a sprin wrapped around the extended portion of the shaft and attached to the cone at one end and to a fixed support relative to the cone at the other.

7. In a road making machine, a mold-board adapted to move up and down, laterally of the machine and rotatably about a vertical axis in combination with means for raising and lowering the mold-board and means for balancing the mold-board at any position within its range of movement comprising a chain connected to the 1nold-board, a cone with a spiral groove on which the chain is wound, the axis of the cone extending longitudinally of the machine, a shaft on which the cone is mounted having an extended portion, a spring wrapped around the extended portion of the shaft and attached to the cone at one end and to a fixed support relative to the cone at the other and means for varying the tension of the spring.'

8. In a road making machine, a drawbar, a mold-board pivotally supported at its middle from the draw-bar and rotatable on said pivot said drawbar extending back of the pivot approximately to the circle described by the ends of the mold-board, in the rotary adjustment of the mold-board and means for adjusting the mold-board vertically, in combination with means for balancing the moldboard at any position within its range of movement comprising a chain connected to the end of the draw-bar, a cone-wheel on which the chain is wound and a spring to resist the rotation of the cone-wheel by the weight oi the mold-board.

9. In a road making machine, a machine body, pulleys supported by the machine body and a mold-board adjustable in position in combination with means for balancing the mold-board at any position within its range of movement comprising a chain connected to the mold-board, a cone on which the chain is wound and a spring resisting the movement of the cone by the weight of the moldboard exerted through the chain, said chain passing around the pulleys on the machinebody. I

10. In a road making machine, a moldboard movable up and down, laterally of the machine and rotatively, in combination with means for raising and lowering the mold board and means for balancing it at any position comprising a chain connected to the mold board, a cone on which the chain is wound, and a torsion spring resisting the movement of the cone by the weight of the mold-board exerted through the chain.

11. In a road making machine, a moldboard movable up and down, laterally of the machine and rotatively, in combination with means for raising and lowering the moldboard and means for balancing it at any position comprising a chain connected to the mold-board, a cone on which the chain is wound, and a torsion spring resisting the movement of the cone by the weight of the mold-board exerted through the chain and means for changing the tension of the torsion spring.

In testimony whereof I aftix my signature.

WILLIAM M. TAYLOR. 

